As Dictators Go : How Bad Was Saddam Really?

Fierce resistance stems from Gringos/Americanos/x-tians on muslim property more than pro-saddam.

Saddam did do some things consiered forward thinking by the West at the time... equality for women, access for females to university, no need for women to cover up etc - things largely frowned upon by neighbouring Iran and also Saudi Arabia et al.

As a dictator, however, he was right up there - let's make no mistake about it. A horrible and dangerous man - his crimes were repulsive - both towards Iran and his own people.

The difficulty comes when you have squaddies coming into the country and running riot. I met one who actually told me it was great to "liberate" Iraq because the women were no longer under islamic rule and could burn their head dress.... uhm... what an idiot. But these are the people in charge of the country now and, inevitably, Islamic extremism from neighbouring countries has now entered Iraq and made it even more unstable.

But this is getting a bit off topic - yes, Saddam was a monster. I don't think many people will miss him.

http://uscis.gov/graphics/publicaffairs/newsrels/iraqiart.htm

I've read the story about Uday killing one of Saddam Hussein's favourite servants, but not that he did in front of Mubarak. What is your source for this?

If A Country Invaded Your Country In Order To Destroy And Replace Your Government, Even If Your Government Was Run By A Brutal Dictator, Would You Fight Them?

now i've reached the point where i feel the quicker we destroy the planet the sooner the bugs and fish can live in peace. and the rocks. and the sagebrush. and the moss.

If Humans Invaded Your Planet In Order To Destroy All The Humans, Even If Humans Are Idiots, Would You Fight Them?

from this excerpt in the wikipedia article on uday:

In October 1988, at a party thrown in the honor of the wife of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Uday beat and stabbed to death one of his father's favorite servants, Kemal Hana Gegeo. Gegeo had recently introduced Saddam to a beautiful, younger woman who later became Saddam's second wife. Uday took this as an insult to his mother, Saddam's cousin and first wife. Uday carried out the murder coolly and coldly, bludgeoning Gegeo repeatedly in front of horrified guests before finishing him off with a steak knife. President Mubarak later called the 6' 8" Uday a "psychopath."

i may've jumped the gun re: the part where i said that hosni mubarak was present when uday committed the murder.

Anyone been watching silly accent fest House of Saddam? It's been kind of daft but quite compelling. The best episode was number three, the one with the botched defection and aborted coup.

What's Dean Gaffney like in it?

Ah, that squaddie who coaxed Saddam out of his hole at the end, I wondered where I'd seen him before...

That was Dean Gaffney, seriously?

The American accent was certainly bad enough for it to have been him.

Ah, I see now, it was a meta joke.